Bathroom Romance
by SamanthaKathy
Summary: Hermione and Severus are forced to share a bathroom and romantic feelings arise. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Thanks to Marianne and Lori

Matchmakers and Bathrooms

"Good morning Severus."

Hermione smiled brightly at Severus, who had just exited his rooms. He nodded curtly and returned her greeting with one of his own. Together they made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. The school year had only a month left to go, and Hermione was looking forward to the summer holidays. When she started that year as the History of Magic teacher—Peeves had bullied away professor Binns just before the start of term, to the delight of the students and the suspicion of the teachers (for they were sure Albus was behind it)—she didn't think it would be so difficult. But now, nearly a year as a teacher completed, she had a newfound respect for all her former professors, because teaching was just plain hard.

Upon seeing Severus and Hermione enter the Great Hall, Albus Dumbledore's smile grew a little bigger, and the incessant twinkle in his eyes became a little more pronounced. Yes, he was very happy with the progress that had been made. He had Peeves bully poor Binns into a well-deserved retirement, had hired Hermione as a replacement, had given Hermione rooms next to Severus'—something Severus had protested against until he had explained that Severus was to lead the new Duelling Club in Binns' old rooms (bless Gilderoy Lockhart for that one brilliant idea). To top it all off, he had assigned Hermione the task of helping Severus make potions for Madam Pomfrey, so Severus had more time for the club. And so, he had nudged them into the right direction. Unfortunately, they had only become friends. Now the school year was almost over, and he was out of patience. No more gentle nudging; no, he was going to push. Something needed to be done, and he was going to do it.

After her last class of the day, Hermione decided she needed a long, hot bath. Three of the four classes she had taught that day were Gryffindor-Slytherin, and the rivalry between those two houses had not diminished since she had attended school. But the moment she entered her rooms, she knew something was wrong. Moaning Myrtle was floating in front of her bedroom door, cackling like an old hag, and Crookshanks was standing in front of the ghost, hissing violently.

"Myrtle, what on earth are you doing here?"

Hermione wasn't sure if she wanted to know what Myrtle was doing in her rooms, because, quite frankly, she found Myrtle's laughing scary.

"You didn't come to visit me," the ghost whined. "I've waited almost the whole year and you didn't come to visit me. So, I've decided to visit you and leave you a present so you won't forget to visit me again."

After that little speech, she floated through the ceiling, presumably back to her toilet.

_Now what did she mean by a present?_

She made a quick check of her living room, but she found nothing amiss. So, with a shrug of her shoulders she decided to take her bath. Walking to her bathroom, she shrugged off her teaching robes and tossed them haphazardly on her bed. But, when she opened the door to her bathroom, a small tidal wave of water flooded her bedroom and soaked her. She had found Myrtle's present.

"Don't worry my dear, I will have it fixed in no time. Just go and do some work in your office and leave this to me. In about an hour, everything will be fixed." Albus beamed at Hermione.

She sighed and said, "Very well."

After she left, Albus went to her rooms and restored her bedroom. In the bathroom he spelled the water away and did a couple of other charms. Then he went to the fireplace in Hermione's living room and flooed Minerva.

An hour and a half later, Hermione descended into the dungeons to see if Albus was done with her bathroom. Just as she was about to enter them, though, she heard Severus shouting, "Dumbledore did _what_?"

This peaked Hermione's interest and she paused in the hallway. After a few minutes, Minerva left Severus' rooms and bumped right into Hermione, who had unconsciously walked closer to the door.

"Oh, Hermione. Just the person I was looking for. Albus asked me to tell you that you have to share Severus' bathroom for the time being, because he was not able to repair all the damage in yours. The extra door in your living room will lead to his."

After that shocking announcement, she walked away, leaving a stunned Hermione in her wake.

Hermione tried to speak to Severus about the bathroom sharing, but he had steadfastly ignored her by not answering his door. She tried to talk to Albus, but all he had to say about the situation was that he "could not fix the problem with magic." So, she tried to talk to Filch, in the hope that he could fix the problem, but he was to busy to help her. All in all, Hermione was not a happy woman. She went to bed feeling frustrated and a little hurt about the fact that Severus had ignored her when she went to talk to him. And she was a bit angry that he had just let her stand in front of the door.

Maybe it was the fact that she never got to take that hot bath, or maybe it was the fact that she went to bed feeling frustrated, angry, and hurt. Whatever the reason was, Hermione overslept for the first time in perhaps her whole life. She rushed to the shared bathroom, only to find the door locked. Exasperated, she banged on the door.

"Severus, let me in. I'm late."

Her only answer was the faint sound of a shower running. The anger of the prior night flared to life again, burning even fiercer than before. She growled in frustration, and pounded harder on the door.

"Damn it, Severus. Stop being such a child and let me in. I've got a class in twenty minutes and I know for a fact that you've got no classes before lunch on Fridays."

Yet again, only the sound of running water was her answer. She began to suspect that he was doing it on purpose. At that moment she heard the distinct sound of whistling. That made her simply furious. He really was doing it on purpose!

"Severus, you petulant little immature brat! Put your shower toy away."

When even that rage-filled outcry didn't get a reaction, she stormed back into her bedroom, furiously yanking clothing out of her closet and putting them on. After she was finished dressing, she cast a cleansing spell. It would have to do. Then she raced to her classroom, arriving just in time.


	2. Chapter 2

Feelings and Revelations

Hermione had scared her students all day. During the first half of the day, the students were scared because their teacher was so angry. With every little thing they did wrong, she snapped at them and took points. They had never seen her so angry before. During the afternoon, her students were scared because their teacher did not react to anything. At the beginning of the lesson she told them what to read, and then she proceeded to stare into nothing for the rest of the lesson. Her behaviour could be easily explained, but the students would have been even more scared if they knew the reason. When Hermione's anger subsided, only the hurt stayed — hurt at Severus' behaviour, because she had thought he was a friend. But clearly he did not think the same way, because what friend would act like she was the plague? Shutting her out of his bathroom and apparently — since he didn't want to talk to her — out of his life.

Severus didn't have a good day either. Oh, it had started out pretty nice. Except that he felt a little guilty about not talking to her, and locking her out of the bathroom. She had been very angry about that.

During lunch he noticed two things. First of all, Hermione wasn't there. Secondly, the students were talking about her. From what he could hear, she was very angry. _And she has every right to be. You were a right asshole. She can't be blamed for Albus' idea._

So, after berating himself, he came to a conclusion: he was going to let her rant at him and then he would say she was right. It wasn't exactly an apology, but then again, he never apologized. And they would be fine after that, or at least, he hoped.

But then, it was dinner and Hermione was yet again not there. By then the rumour had spread that something was really wrong with her, because she kept staring sadly at nothing. When Severus heard that, his heart wrenched painfully. _It's your fault, you stupid old man. Your behaviour made her hide during meals, and sad and distant during lessons. She is, or maybe was, your friend, one of the few, and what does she get out of it? Hurt feelings, that's what! Why, why do I always muck things up? I can't even be decent to the woman I love. Wait, did I just think love? Oh, sweet mother of Merlin, I love her. I have got to make things right. I have to apologise._ And with that thought in mind, he made his excuses and went in search of Hermione.

In the mean time, Hermione was hiding out in the Astronomy Tower. She couldn't believe how hurt she was by Severus' behaviour. She cried silently, and let the tears flow down her face. That was how Severus found her. His heart clenched painfully when he saw her tears. She didn't seem to have heard him come in as she stood there with her eyes closed and tears on her cheeks that glistered in the moonlight. _By Merlin, she is so beautiful._

"Hermione?"

His soft whisper caused her to snap her head toward him.

"What do you want?"

Despite her tears, she sounded angry.

"I wanted to apologize. I treated you very badly. You can't help it that Albus made us share a bathroom, just as you can't help it that I'm a very private man. I'm sorry I took my insecurities out on you. I hope you can forgive me and that we can still be friends." _And maybe even more._

He waited, anxious for her answer, while keeping his eyes steadfastly on the ground. When no answer came, he looked up carefully. Hermione had a sweet smile on her face. That was all the answer he needed and he gave a shy smile back—even though the Dark Lord had been defeated, he didn't smile often—and that caused her to smile even brighter. He made a move to turn and walk away, but at the last moment he changed his plan. Instead, he took a step towards Hermione and gently wiped a stray tear off of her cheek.

"Thank you," he whispered softly.

After that loving gesture, he turned around and quickly strode back to the safety of his rooms. Hermione stayed behind, her heart warmed by his words, and a faint tingly feeling on her cheek where his fingers had touched her.

Scowling, Severus walked to his rooms. It had been a few weeks since he apologized to Hermione, and this was the first time he felt anything but happy. His face didn't often show it, nor did his behaviour towards the students, and most of the teachers, but he was really happy with the restored friendship with Hermione, and had high hopes for more. However, today he was not happy at all. It was worse than when Longbottom still attended his potions class. How there could be a student who was worse than Longbottom when it came to Potions was a mystery to him. A greater mystery was how said student ended up in Ravenclaw. Today had been a day of glory for this king of the dunderheads, because the insipid boy had managed to explode a cauldron filled with a potion that had a foul smell, which could not be removed with magic. He had to cut the lesson short to allow everyone time to shower before the next class.

Entering his bathroom, he discarded his robes and prayed that the house-elves would be able to clean them. He had lost enough robes to Potions accidents already that month. Sighing in mental exhaustion, he stepped under the beam of the shower, which refreshed him. Merlin was he glad that there were only two more weeks left before the holidays started.

Hermione was very, very happy. For the past two weeks, ever since the apology in the Astronomy Tower, she had been happy. She had even admitted to herself that she was absolutely, totally, madly in love with Severus Snape. Instead of tempering her happy feeling, that confession to herself only increased it. But today, she was even happier. She had no classes after lunch, and during lunch a long-awaited package had arrived. From the normal brown paper wrapping and the shape, it appeared to be a book, or maybe two books. No one asked what was in the packages she received every month. After all, she was known as a know-it-all bookworm.

Most of the time Hermione hated her stamp of perfect, rule-following, know-it-all, but when it came to those packages, she did not. Because if everyone thought that she received books, who was she to deny it? She had no intention of letting them know that the virtuous little Gryffindor had a kink. Oh yes, a kink. She was hooked on lingerie, naughty, sexy and daring, lingerie. And in this package was her most daring set yet.

Happily, she bounced into her rooms and plopped herself onto the bed. She unwrapped the package quickly, and lifted the top of the box to reveal the contents. The first thing she got out of the box was a simple, if not small, thong in a deep forest green colour. After admiring it for a few minutes, she carefully laid it aside. She then picked up the masterpiece of the set—a beautiful halter bra in the same deep forest green colour. The clasp was in the front and it was made of silver. But what made it so special were the silver studs that were spread out over the cups. Hermione lovingly felt the mixed texture of smooth silk and hard silver. Quickly she shed her clothes and put them on, stroking the fabric and revelling in the feeling of the bra and thong against her skin. Still immersed in the thrill that wearing the lingerie gave her, she walked into the bathroom to look at herself in the large floor to ceiling mirror.

Severus was thinking of getting out of the shower when he heard the door opening. He turned around and froze. Hermione was in the same frozen condition, standing in the doorway. Their eyes locked for a moment, and when Severus broke eye contact, he shifted his gaze lower and froze a little more. _O, sweet mother of Merlin and all that is holy. She, she, she's wearing a studded bra._ Hermione, in the mean time, was desperately trying to keep her eyes above Severus' waist. She did, however, notice his strong, pale chest.

"Oh," she breathed out.

That soft sound broke the spell they were under and Hermione quickly turned around, flushing. Severus turned off the shower and grabbed a towel, all the while keeping Hermione's arse in view. _She seems to have forgotten that she's wearing a thong. I didn't know she was this, well, kinky is the word, I guess. But I am in no way complaining about it!_

"You know, if you wanted to see me naked, all you had to do was ask."

Hermione heard the teasing tone and let some of the tension flow out of her body.

"Well, next time, remember to lock the bathroom door, Severus. Because if I wanted to see that, I would have gone to the Rocky Horror Picture Show."

And with that parting shot, she walked out of the bathroom and closed the door, but not before she saw Severus, with a towel around his waist, laughing. She grinned, happy that this little incident hadn't caused him to crawl back into his shell again. Embarrassment about his seeing her in her lingerie didn't set in until a few minutes later. She hid in her rooms for the rest of the day.

Almost two weeks after the 'bathroom incident,' as Severus called it in his head, he became desperate. He had wanted to tell Hermione about his feelings, ask her out, get their relationship started, something. But every time, he had lost the courage. He knew they were friends, but was she interested in more? Even if she was, he knew he had to move fast, because during the holidays there was too much chance that somebody else was going to steal her heart. And the worst part was, the Leaving Feast was the next day.

Suddenly, Severus' Slytherin mind came up with a brilliant idea. He was going to write it all down and send her a letter. And if he timed it right, the letter would reach her during the Leaving Feast, when it was winding down, so he could talk to her about it without students interfering. Yes, that would be perfect. Now all he had to do was write it. Well, it was easier said than done, but after three hours, and numerous scrolls of parchment and copious amounts of ink, he had the letter ready for sending. All he had to do was sit back and wait for her reply.


	3. Chapter 3

Relationships and Friends

Hermione had just finished with her dessert when an owl came swooping down. She looked at the bird with surprise before she took the scroll from its leg. The owl took off immediately; he didn't even give her time to feed him a little treat. Curious, she broke the seal and started reading, unaware of three pairs of eyes that watched her.

_Dear Hermione,___

_You have no idea how hard it is to write this letter. For a while now, I have been trying to tell you how I feel about you, but whenever I am near you, the words just won't come. So, instead of saying them, I'm writing them. This doesn't mean, however, that I mean them any less. If you come to the end of this letter and do not feel the same way, please burn this and we will never mention this again.___

_I once thought I knew you, knew who you were and what you were. An annoying know-it-all, a bookworm with a head filled with facts. Oh, how wrong I was. I discovered this when we became friends—dear friends, I even dare to say. But no one could have prepared me for this feeling of love I now hold for you. It took me a long time to see what was right in front of me and it took me a long time to tell you. But now I do tell you, in the hope that we can explore this feeling of mine and in hopes you feel it too. I love you. There, I said it. I love you very much and I would like to court you.___

_If you are disgusted by this idea, please burn the letter and we will never mention it again. I will carry my love for you deep within me, where it will never bother you again. The only hope I have, if you burn this letter, is that we can remain friends, although I realise that after my revelation, you might not want to. If, however small the chance is, you reciprocate my feelings, I ask you to accompany me on a dinner date tomorrow evening at seven. I will pick you up at your rooms at ten to seven.___

_With love,___

_Severus Snape_

Hermione had just finished reading the letter, and was nowhere near understanding the precise implications of it, when a voice was heard from next to her.

"What is that supposed to be, dear?"

Hermione groaned. Why did Sybill Trewlany want to know what was in her letter. Luckily for her, at that precise moment, a student at the Ravenclaw table started to sing "Tomorrow." Probably a prank, looking at the face of said student. Hermione used the unexpected but welcome distraction to make a quick escape from the room.

The same three sets of eyes that had watched her receive the letter followed her flight from the room. Sybill looked at her with envy, for she was sure that she had recognised Severus's handwriting on the letter. She had known that she didn't stand a chance with him, but this didn't make it any easier. Albus looked at her with that damned twinkle in his eyes, happy to see his plans come to fruition. Severus looked at her with a feeling of dread and anticipation. She had not burned the letter, but tomorrow, when the shock had faded, she might reconsider. With that thought in mind, he stalked out of the Great Hall.

Severus paced in his rooms. He still had five minutes to go before he was due to pick up Hermione. He was clad in black trousers and a dark forest-green silk shirt. The same shade of green as Hermione's studded bra, his mind provided gleefully. But he refused to dwell on that thought.

_I will be lucky if she hasn't changed her mind between yesterday and now._

Of course, she hadn't changed her mind. She had said yes when he came back from dinner the day before. He knew his fear of her changing her mind was irrational, but he couldn't help it. Looking at the clock, he saw that it was time. He walked out of his door, grabbing his black cloak in the process. Standing in front of her door, he hesitated. Then, coming to a decision, he knocked.

The door opened immediately. It was, he mused, almost as if she had been waiting for him.

_Of course she was waiting, you invited her._

Severus wondered if it was normal for his inner voice to sound like Minerva McGonagall. He didn't dwell on that, however.

"Shall we go?"

He extended his arm. Hermione smiled and Severus felt his stomach filling itself with butterflies.

_Will she like the restaurant? Can I even keep up a decent conversation? Of course I can, we've been friends for almost a year. Should I have gotten a Portkey, instead of Apparating us both? Hell no, I'm not a saint. I want to feel her in my arms. Oh, Merlin, I don't think I can do this!_

"Severus, are you all right? You've been awfully quiet."

Severus focused on his surroundings and noticed they were almost at the edge of the wards.

"I'm fine."

He could see the doubt in her eyes.

"I am, really. Just a bit in thought."

They passed the wards. He took a deep breath, both to get his body to behave and to quell his nerves about the Side-Along Apparition. He so did not want to splinch Hermione on their first date.

"Shall we go?"

Hermione nodded and stepped into his waiting arms without any visible hesitation. This soothed his nerves about the date more than anything. Tightening his arms around her, he Apparated away. When they arrived at their destination, Hermione lingered in Severus' arms a moment longer then necessary. Not that he minded. Together they entered the restaurant.

The whole evening had been wonderful. They talked about work, hobbies, some of the children they had in class. Hermione made a joke about Severus liking the restaurant because it was called Cauldron Cuisine. Yet, there was something nagging at Severus and while they were eating dessert, he brought it up.

"Hermione, how are Ron and Harry going to react? I mean, they are your best friends, but they still don't exactly like me."

Hermione giggled.

"No, they don't. But you shouldn't worry about it. They already know that I'm having dinner with you tonight, and even though they don't understand why, they are willing to accept it."

Severus was relieved, for he was certain that if she had to choose between him and her friends, she would choose her friends.

"I must say, I had expected them to put up a fight, especially Mr. Weasley."

"Yes, well, what can I say about it? They were probably a bit shocked and it hasn't really sunk in yet."

That statement caused a chuckle. Yes, Severus knew exactly what she meant by that. And even though he was not entirely certain that this relationship was going to work, she was a gorgeous, smart woman, after all, and he was an ex-Death Eater. He was finally beginning to see a silver lining around the clouds. And a Slytherin silver at that.

The End

A/N: I realised that I forgot to mention that I based this story on a challenge from WIKTT. Maybe someday I will write a sequel to this story, after all, it is only the beginning of their relationship. But I'm working on a couple of other stories now, and they go first.


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